It is probably as simple as the body roll crimped in main contacts in the solenoid are arc-worn down not making a good electrical delivery contact.
Some low percentage faults you can check for from 16 years and a few hundreds of thousands of starters:
That copper washed round body magnetic plunger should be able to be easily pulled in& out. Have no binding or catching points. lever arm pivots wear - especially the plastic ones! The machined splines on the armature shaft can groove wear causing movement binding.
Another one:
the end gears on the overrunning clutch drive is chamfered on one side. This is to allow for a slight turning back engagement. The gear teeth tips be worn back, then blunt. You will then just go clicky, clicky. The overrunning drive clutch can freeze lock up not allowing the turning back for alignment and full throw gears engagement: then again click’s, click’s only.
You can with the starter out test for drive clutch slipping by jamming the end of a piece of hardwood against it kicked out running. It should eat up the hardwood and make lots of wood smoke.
The wood stops the drive gear - then a bad worn drive clutch.
Ha! having fun yet? To endure life’s complications you have to make it fun and develop a sense of humor at absurdities.
Steve Unruh
Hey TomH actually your music-art comparison is apt for old analog versus digital.
An oil-water color picture is analog.
Ha! Ha! The CRT tube visual and all new screens are digital.
Still both best viewed from a standing off distance to blend into a whole. Even continuous brush stroked element from canvas weave texture get “on-off” highlighted.
DO NOT USE A BATTERY CHARGER WHEN DIAGNOSING DIGITAL AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS!
Chargers are meant for charging very forgiving mass plate batteries. Most chargers do not have a perfectly cleaned up DC. Lots of voltage spike chatter on their outputs. Digital logic systems see these and interpret them as digital information. It’s not. Just random noise.
S.U.
Yes.
But only if that copper washed plunger is pulled back out to engage the gears.
Do this with padded jaws locking pliers clamped to the plunger.
You do not want to nick-marr the smooth plunger surface. The plunger WILL pulled-in hard at engine starting so fingers held you could have a finger tip cut off between the plunger body and the cast aluminum housing!
Makes for a howling screaming bloody mess.
S.U.
I was wrong about the battery. will only hold 11.7 volts and the charger says it is sulfated. I’ll try and do the welder trick on it before I spring for a new battery. Couldn’t try the jump starter because the trans won’t shift out of neutral. I’ll have to crawl under and see what’s up with that. Oh well, only needs to get running before the snow falls. Usually the middle of November.
it is possible to make roll crimped solenoids serviceable, if you have access to lathe.
cut it open,
then cut a fine thread on the rear end of solenoid (1mm pitch or similar in order to keep the thread shallow)
and make a knurled nut so it can be tightened by hand.
I tested the solenoid and see nothing wrong with it either.
I put the starter motor back and tested it today, there was no difference, I’m starting to wonder if the battery isn’t enough, I had cables between the Chevan and the Opel, but it didn’t work anyway.
